DAMN you, Erik Bloodaxe. We all thought that the crisis in European fish stocks could be traced back 30 years to the cod wars with Iceland.

Then along come York University researchers and their collection of antique herring bones. Apparently these prove that a massive increase in sea fishing took place around a millennium ago.

It was those Vikings what did it. Not content with raping, pillaging and (before Jorvik bosses get on the phone) creating a sophisticated civilisation, they plundered our seas too.

Hadn't they heard of European Union quotas?

Updated: 11:12 Wednesday, November 24, 2004